Recently, I’ve been a little frustrated with finding a good book to read. I know what I want (something engaging, not overly complicated, not too long) but my attempts at finding it have been in vain.
One of the main reasons I’ve been wanting something new to read is because I have some time at work where I can put on an audio book while completing my daily tasks. I discovered Scribd a few months back, and honestly, for $10 I don’t know of a better deal when it comes to audio books and books. It’s like a streaming service for books with tons of books and magazines to read or listen to, along with exclusive stories written by the likes of Chuck Palahniuk and Stephen King. I have no idea why no one is talking about this, but I love it.
Anyway, I swear I’m not getting paid by Scribd, but I really try and take advantage of those free books or whatever my wife’s Audible account has free. With that being said, I must have started and stopped a couple dozen books over the past month. Everything from classics to brand new novels, I don’t discriminate, I just struggle to find something that speaks to me.
I ran across some old post online discussing Western books and someone mentioned the Joe Pickett series. I’d never heard of Joe Pickett, but I’d seen the author, CJ Box’s name around. I did a quick search and discovered the twenty-book series is sort of a modern day Western featuring a game warden from Wyoming. Once I saw a comparison to Longmire made (another series I love which unfortunately is not streaming) I decided to check out the first book.
The introduction ended abruptly, and I was about ready to quick on the novel right there. Then after a few minutes of boring family discussion, the book picked up and picked up fast. It’s a mystery story, involving a dead man on Joe Pickett’s property who he’d previously had a run-in with. There’s corruption amuck and Joe really does seem like one of the last morally centered men around. The book really appealed to me because he is a good man, but a very flawed man. He’s not a hero, nor a badass. His fear is discussed, his mistakes are embarrassing, and he’s arguably a bit of a failure in some ways. Yet, despite all the odds stacked against him, he does the right thing, every time and I grew to admire the character.
I just finished the first book, Open Season, and I really enjoyed it. I was able to put together the mystery quite early on, which is not something I’m all that good at, but the predictability made it even easier of a listen. The author does a great job at shows depth to most of the characters, who all are more complex than at first glance.
I became so enamored with the story, I did some more digging online and ran across a trailer for a TV series that aired on Spectrum and is coming to Paramount+ this month based on the character. It looks good and I’m excited to see the character fleshed out on screen. Some of the author’s other work was recently adapted into the series Big Sky which from my understanding resembles nothing from his work and is not looked upon fondly by fans.
I look forward to exploring the world of Joe Pickett thanks to all of the novels being available on Scribd. I hope it’ll keep me entertained for a bit.
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